


I Need A Co-Pilot

by thesoundofnat



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Tony is a total dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: “It doesn’t matter. He deserves a much better father than me anyway.”Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Do we need to have a stern conversation about how you’re actually a good human being and would be an amazing parent?”“I’m not in the mood, Rhodey.”(Or, Rhodey teases Tony about him being a total dad to Peter, but Tony isn’t planning on being a single parent.)





	I Need A Co-Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Brief mention of an anxiety attack, vague mention of Howard being a shit father.

He hadn’t realized he’d been doing it until Rhodey had pointed it out, and while it was common for Tony to start becoming hyper aware of certain behaviors once he was actually aware of them, he couldn’t find it in himself to to start questioning it this time. The kid had been through too much for Tony to start backing up now.

But of course Rhodey refused to drop it.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr ‘I’ll never be a dad’.”

Tony shot him a look, but didn’t honor him with a reply.

Rhodey was sitting on Tony’s couch (who even let him in to begin with?) looking incredibly smug for some unknown reason, but Tony had just dealt with Peter having called him ten times and given him a heart attack over something trivial, so he had no energy to even ask.

“Long day?” Rhodey asked, his voice softer as Tony flung himself beside him.

“I think this day lasted weeks.”

Rhodey reached out to run his hand through Tony’s hair briefly, a habit he’d picked up from Pepper years ago when she and Tony had still been together. It had started as a jest, but now Tony found himself continuously wishing he’d never stop.

“Tell me about it?”

Tony exhaled slowly. “Well, we had a meeting this morning that no one had told me about, so of course I ran late. I’m pretty sure they did it on purpose.”

“Fuck them.”

“Right? Anyway, it lasted longer than necessary, and I didn’t have time to eat lunch.”

“That’s a very Tony Stark thing.”

“Only this time they didn’t let me.”

“Again. Fuck them.”

“I then had to deal with the kid freaking out over a small thing, and making me freak out in the process before I realized what he was talking about.”

Rhodey tilted his head. “Well, they say parents tend to overreact when it comes to their children.”

Tony ignored him once again. “How was your day?”

“Stressful, which was apparently so obvious that they practically ordered me to go home.”

“And instead you came here.”

“This is as much home as my apartment.”

“Fair enough. How long were you waiting?”

“Not too long. I barely had time to ponder over whether I wanted to raid your fridge.”

Tony snorted out a laugh. “As long as you make me something too, be my guest.”  
  
“Shouldn’t we invite Peter over? What kind of father are you to let your son starve?”

“Just go check the fridge, Rhodes.”

* * *

 

 

Tony was halfway through his brunch date with Rhodey and Pepper when his phone started blowing up.

“Who died?” Rhodey asked as Tony grabbed the device in alarm.

He only needed to glance at the screen before he groaned. “Really?”

“What?” Rhodey and Pepper asked in unison, and Tony just shook his head and shoved the phone in their faces.

“The kid just can’t text everything in a chunk,” he muttered. “Always gotta space out his sentences so that one simple thing is ten messages long.”

Rhodey squinted at the screen (Tony held back a comment about him getting old). “He wonders if that robbery downtown was a supervillain’s doing. Cute.”

“He’s desperate for some action, but I told him to focus on school this week.”

Pepper was nodding encouragingly. “That’s a good choice. He won’t be in school forever.”

“And I don’t want to be the cause of him failing all his subjects.”

“You should ask him if he’s having difficulties,” Rhodey said, waving his fork around and spilling pieces of egg onto the table. “Help him out and stuff if he needs it.”

“You know, that might not be a bad idea,” Pepper said, sounding way more excited about this than Tony would’ve thought.

“Do I look like a tutor to you?”

“This way you will keep him busy and therefore keep him out of trouble while still helping him.”

Tony leaned back in his chair. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“Think about it. This kid is obviously in need of older people looking out for him.”

“And he craves the attention,” Rhodey added.

“Right. Doing this would probably make his year, and that way you will have more control of the situation since he cannot - and probably will not - go out and take on things he cannot properly handle.” Pepper was as caught up with everything as Rhodey was.

Tony sighed. “I hate it when you two are right.”

Rhodey shot him a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re not looking forward to spending some quality time with your boy.”

“You know what, I’m never speaking to you again.”

But of course he would. He always would.

* * *

 

Tony should’ve expected Rhodey to show up just as he and Peter were wrapping up their tutoring session, but he hadn’t, and was therefore immensely surprised when his friend appeared in the kitchen out of nowhere (seriously, who kept letting him in?).

Peter was practically over the moon, blabbering about how awesome War Machine was and whatnot, and, in return, Rhodey revealed that he very much knew that Peter was Spider-Man and that he admired how much he’d already done for New York City at such a young age. Tony wanted to ask why they were kissing each other’s asses, but he reckoned neither of them would’ve appreciated it.

“I like him,” Rhodey said once Tony had sent Happy to drive Peter home. “He’s so energetic.”

“Yeah, well, try giving him your phone number and get back to me.”

“Stop lying. You’re loving the attention.”

Tony snorted. “I don’t love worrying he’ll break his own neck one day.”

“It’s your duty as a dad to worry about him.”

Tony tweaked him in the ribs this time, making him jump away with a laugh. “Stop saying that.”

“What? That hurt by the way.”

“Don’t lie. And stop saying I’m the kid’s father.”

“You know I’m kidding.”

“It doesn’t matter. He deserves a much better father than me anyway.”

Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Do we need to have a stern conversation about how you’re actually a good human being and would be an amazing parent?”

“I’m not in the mood, Rhodey.”

“Hey, look at me.” Tony did, albeit reluctantly. “You’d be an amazing father, and the kid looks up to you for a reason.”

“Because I’m Iron Man.”

“Maybe. But he of all people knows that there’s a human beneath the suit.”

Tony shook his head. “Doesn’t mean I’d be a good parent. Not that I want to be one.” The one way he could prevent himself from becoming like his own father was to never become a father.

Rhodey reached out to grab his neck, a habit Pepper had picked up from him. Tony shivered as he ran his thumb up his sensitive skin and along his hairline. “You’ve always been so mean to yourself.”

“It’s either that or an extremely big ego.”

“I’d prefer the ego.”

Tony’s lips twitched upward. “You say that now.”

“I won’t take it back.”

Tony poked his chest, but instead of withdrawing his hand he kept it there, fiddling with the neckband of his shirt. Blue looked good on him. “You know what I’ve noticed?”

Rhodey squeezed his neck lightly. “What?”

“If I’m the dad, you’re totally the mom.”

Rhodey barked out a laugh. “Pardon?”

“I’m not repeating myself.”

Rhodey pulled Tony closer by the neck, their foreheads just shy of touching. “Can I be blunt for a sec?”

“Always.”

“If we’re the parents here, I want all the perks.”

Tony hummed. “All of them?”

“All of them.”

Tony could feel Rhodey’s breath hitting his face. Could feel his heart beating against his chest. Could feel it picking up speed.

He leaned in, and Rhodey met him halfway.

* * *

 

The room was still dark when Tony woke up, but he could feel the lack of a body beside him immediately. His heart in his throat, he sat up and reached blindly around to light his bedside lamp, but a hand stopped him before he managed to kill the darkness.

“I’m here,” Rhodey said, voice soft as he gently pushed Tony back against the mattress. “It’s okay.”

Tony sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. Rinse and repeat, just like he’d been told to do to prevent an anxiety attack. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I have nothing to freak out over either.”

“Stop it.” Fingers in his hair, rubbing his scalp. Tony found himself leaning into the touch rather than feeling crowded by it. “You really have to stop being so mean to yourself.”

Tony reached out to pull Rhodey closer, moving over a bit so that he could sit. “What would I do without you?”

“I don’t even want to think about that.”

“Neither do I.”

“So let’s not.” Rhodey smiled now. Tony could see it in the dark. “To think me calling you out for being a total dad would lead us here.”

Tony laughed. “I’m not sure how I feel about you calling me dad.”

“I’ve never called you dad,” Rhodey protested. “I just said you are like  _a_ dad.”

“Whatever you say, honey.”

Rhodey used his free hand to squeeze his side before closing the gap, pausing with his lips an inch away from Tony’s to say, “I like it when you call me that.”

“Oh, I know.”

They kissed for the hundredth time that night, but definitely not the last.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://thesoundofnat.tumblr.com/)


End file.
